Finalists Named in Boomer-Focused Business Competition
Silicon Valley competition selects five teams with innovative products and services for the 45+ market; entrepreneurs focus on baby boomers’ healthcare and home modification needs
Santa Clara, CA (PRWEB) June 15, 2006
Five finalists have been selected for the 2006 Boomer Business Plan Competition, an annual Silicon Valley-based event that serves as an incubator for entrepreneurs developing new products and services aimed at consumers age 45 and up.
This year’s competition, co-produced by Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business and Mary Furlong & Associates, attracted contestants from around the United States and as far away as New Zealand and the Philippines. In all, more than 75 business plans were submitted by college students and early-stage companies with up to $1 million in annual revenue.
Plans targeted ventures in a range of industries poised for significant growth as the population ages, including medicine, technology, fashion and financial services. Competitors focused on the evolving needs and interests of America’s 78 million baby boomers, a generation with more than $2.5 trillion in spending power that is fast approaching its golden years. The first wave of boomers began turning 60 in January.
“The boomers need innovation,” says Mary Furlong, consultant and expert in the boomer and senior markets. “The Boomer Business Plan Competition seeks to foster innovation and help entrepreneurs of all ages and stages take their ideas and build businesses out of them.”
The five promising ventures selected by the competition’s judges include::
Renovus, a Stanford, CA-based business developing a waste-management solution for people who have undergone ostomy surgery. Novelios Pharmaceuticals, a Durham, NC-based company developing a drug that fights glaucoma. ALCiS Health, a San Jose-based company that develops and markets total body therapy solutions, including topical pain relief products. iRhythm Technologies, a Stanford, CA-based company that has developed an easy-to-use cardiac rhythm monitoring device. In Your Home, a Portland, OR-based company that modifies homes so that older residents can continue living there independently and safely as they age.
Several of the finalist teams are headed by students or graduates of leading universities, including Stanford, Duke and Santa Clara University. They were selected from a pool of 20 semifinalists, all of whom will have their plans reviewed by top Silicon Valley venture capitalists and boomer market experts.
The five finalists will present their plans to a panel of judges at the 2006 Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit on June 20 at Santa Clara University, where a $10,000 grand prize winner will be chosen. For more information and Summit registration, please visit www. boomerventuresummit. com.
The winner will be chosen by a panel of judges that features distinguished members of the venture capital, business, media and education communities, including: Jennifer Fonstad, Managing Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson; Michael Goldberg, General Partner, Mohr Davidow Ventures; Emilio Pardo, Chief Brand Officer, AARP Services, Inc.; Nancy Kamei, Senior Director, Digital Health, Intel Capital; Jon Staenberg, Partner, Rustic Canyon Partners; Brad Vale, Vice President, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation.
The Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit’s sponsors include North Castle Partners, AARP Services, Inc., Intel Capital, MetLife Mature Market Institute, Silicon Valley Bank, Wells Fargo, Facebook, NBC, Story of My Life and CogniFit. Marketing partners include: American Society on Aging’s Business Forum on Aging, SmartSilvers Alliance, CEOnetworking, SVASE, Career Company, EBIG and GRANDtimes. com.
About the Co-producers
Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University
Founded in 1926, the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University was one of the first business schools in the country to receive national accreditation. Its undergraduate business program is recognized as one of the best in California, and its MBA program is ranked 10th in the nation among part-time graduate programs for working professionals.
Mary Furlong & Associates works with companies seeking to capitalize on new business and investment opportunities in this $2 trillion-per-year market. MFA provides business development, financing strategy and integrated marketing solutions to entrepreneurs, corporations and nonprofit organizations serving the 50+ market. Mary Furlong, Ed. D also serves as an executive professor on Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University in the Silicon Valley. See www. MaryFurlong. com for more information.
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